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Schools

School Board Accepts $1M Bid to Mend Roofs

Willham Roofing will fix the roofs at Center Middle School and Strongsville High School.

The accepted a million-dollar bid from Thursday to replace two sections of roof at Center Middle School and one at this summer.

The bid, totaling $1,035,330, was the lowest of three the district received, and the only one that came in under a budget of $1,051,000.

The district’s director of building services Mark Donnelly said the repairs are long overdue.

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“In my office when I arrived, there was a series of reports about roof conditions around the district dated in 2004,” he said. “And these three sections were considered the worst at that time – potentially roofs that may fail.”

Donnelly said some of the wood fibers underneath the roof have gotten wet, which could cause the fibers to “start degrading and then essentially collapse.”

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“Now we’re not at that level, they’ve tested it…but it’s heading in that direction,” he said. “I won’t say it’s serious, but it’s definitely something we need to address.”

Willham Roofing Company, located on Albion Road, will charge the district $616,330 for the Center repairs. At the high school, the area where the roof above the cafeteria meets the competition gymnasium and the performance arts center will need to be “raised up” to fix a draining issue, and will cost $419,000.

Donnelly said construction will start when classes dismiss for summer vacation in May, and will hopefully finish by Aug. 1.

Board member Richard Micko asked if it was necessary to do the improvements at Center if the end goal was to eventually replace the building.

Donnelly said there’s not enough money in the district’s coffers to cover a razing-and-rebuilding project anytime soon, and it’s the district’s responsibility to maintain the children’s safety.

“With our history of barely passing renewal levies, I truly have to assume that we are not going to get new moneys any time soon,” he said. “And a $600K investment is cheap considering what may happen if we don’t do it.”

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